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Old 05-09-2016, 08:25 PM   #1
Wheelhouse
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Range Extenders

My brother was telling me of range extender he had installed in I=his motorhome. He has a modem plugged into the extender and is able to pick hot-spots up to about 2 miles. His ran around $600 plus install. I didn't get the name of it. He said it is perfect for streaming and not losing signal. Has anyone heard of or installed one with a cheaper source?
 
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Old 05-10-2016, 02:24 AM   #2
GregN
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I got one of these. I have not tried it out yet. I got it as some of the
parks I am in the wifi antenna does not give me a good line of sight
to my computer in the rv.

http://www.radiolabs.com/products/wi...fi-antenna.php
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Old 05-10-2016, 03:23 AM   #3
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HI Wheelhouse

There are a couple of things that determine how well wifi works for you at any given location.

The first thing you need is a good wifi signal/path between your computer and an access point that provides connection to the internet. This is where a signal booster/amplifier/outside antenna will help increase performance. By providing a stronger signal and less "noise", you will have a higher throughput of data between the two.

The other thing that you need is a high bandwidth connection between the access point and the internet. This connection is shared by everyone that is connected to the internet through that access point. So, if there is a large number of users all on the same access point at the same time and it has limited bandwidth, the performance will range from "ok sometimes" down to "unusable".

The bottom line, for high speed internet access, you need both of the above connections to be working well. If either one has a poor connection, the internet service will be poor.

An amplifier/booster/outside antenna can definitely improve the first link. However, there is nothing the user can do to improve the second link other than connect to a different access point that has higher bandwidth available.

It has been my general experience that more often than not, a park's wifi signal from their access point has adequate strength but the park's available bandwidth to the internet is lacking. As a result, we usually end up using our smartphones' hotspot feature or our Verizon MiFi to get adequate internet performance (and increased security).

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Old 05-10-2016, 04:22 AM   #4
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Quote:
quote:An amplifier/booster/outside antenna can definitely improve the first link. However, there is nothing the user can do to improve the second link other than connect to a different access point that has higher bandwidth available.
Thanks to Starmaster for this excellent observation. Understanding this distinction would save a lot of frustration.
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Old 05-10-2016, 07:06 AM   #5
bigskyjimmy
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Starmaster is right on ,it is that simple I have a good wi- fi booster I use when My Verizon Jet pack is getting maxed out on Meg's for Park Wi-FI BUT if everybody and their Grandma is on the Park Wi- Fi it does not matter how good your Extender/Booster is it will be slow as most Park Wi-Fi's do not have the Bandwidth to handle high traffic especially when you have folks in the Park trying to download/upload a bunch things
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Old 05-10-2016, 01:25 PM   #6
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Something else to consider. At least this is how it works on my network. I used to connect both my laptop and my printer wirelessly through my Verizon Hotspot. Unfortunately, when I printed from my laptop to the printer, it counted this local traffic against my dataplan.

To avoid this I use a USB cable from the printer to the laptop and no longer use the Hotspot for printing. Since printing involves only data, you can imagine how fast my dataplan was used up, especially around tax time and printing up all those documents. But never again, with using the USB feature of the printer connected to one of my laptops USB ports. Hopefully your printer has a USB port and you'll need to have a "device" USB cable. The printer interface side has a square-like connector with angles at two of the corners, to ensure it's connected correctly. There is a slight difference from the typical USB cables we have for cellphones and other small devices. In my case, DW uses the chair closest to the printer and I use the chair closest to the sofa, so I also have a USB extension cable to reach from my printer to the laptop.

Now only the laptop and DW's notepad use the Hotspot dataplan.
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Old 05-11-2016, 02:39 PM   #7
Wheelhouse
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OMG, there definitely is a lot to consider when using the wi-fi, lol. I appreciate all the responses in this topic. I will see how my brother's works with the different bandwidths and let E1 know. Thanks again.

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Old 10-15-2016, 12:32 AM   #8
maxjr758
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I bought an Alpha Camp Pro, which is a, booster antenna, and a repeater in a kit. I still haven't been able to connect to any wifi but my own, while parked at home. Tried at several locations this summer, on a trip from NC, to Marathon Key, and back.
Anyone have any experience with this setup?

Ps, works great,at home !
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Old 10-16-2016, 01:40 AM   #9
Phil P
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Hi

We try the parks WiFi first and if unsatisfactory we go to the Version MiFi.

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Old 10-16-2016, 10:55 AM   #10
richfaa
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We have not seen the need for a extender for at least the last 10 years. We have the verizon hot spot on board and have received a good signal all over the country. We do not use Rv park wifi unless absolutly necessary.
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